relationships and conversations that make a difference

Welcome (Bienvenidos) to the International Journal of Collaborative-Dialogic Practice. The Journal brings together members of a growing international community of practitioners, scholars, educators, researchers, and consultants from diverse disciplines who are interested in collaborative-dialogic practice based in postmodern-social construction assumptions. This community responds to important questions in social and human sciences such as:

How can our practices have relevance for the people we meet in our fast changing world?
What will this relevance accomplish? For whom? And, who determines it?

Globalization and technology have influenced a rhizomatic spawning of social, cultural, political, and economic transformations. Concomitantly they have influenced a shrinking interdependent world and one in which segmentation of peoples, ideologies, and values prevail. Yet, though for different reasons, people increasingly want to participate, contribute, and share ownership in decisions about their daily lives and their futures. Our traditional perspectives and mainstream practices of producing knowledge, solving problems and creating change no longer meet the unavoidable contemporary complexities inherent in these rapid changes and the challenges they present. We are compelled by these challenges and people’s voices to continually reassess how we understand the world we live in, how we respond to the people we meet, the relevancy of our practice tools, and our ways of being with others.

The International Journal of Collaborative Practices is designed as one part of a timely and valuable response to these challenges. It aims to spotlight interconnected issues such as: 1) the juxtaposition of democracy, social justice, and human rights; 2) the importance of people’s voices locally and globally; and 3) the fundamental need for collaboration. Toward this aim, the Journal publishes articles on a variety of practices from various disciplines, contexts and cultures, and it encourages the inclusion of well-published authors and those who are just beginning to write about their work.

We welcome comments, questions and submissions. Please let us hear from you and please share news about the Journal with your colleagues and students.

Mission

The International Journal of Collaborative-Dialogic Practice provides a bilingual forum for the exchange of ideas and practices from diverse practitioners and scholars around the world. This forum aims to help produce and promote relationally responsive-dialogic processes which generate new opportunities and new futures in our working and living together locally and globally. The Journal is peer reviewed and seeks to feature known published and newly writing authors. All issues are archived.

This Issue

Articles

This issue features contributions from practitioners and scholars in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, Mexico, Sweden and the United States.

Shotter leads the issues with his exploration of orienting ourselves to the ‘other’ and the ‘otherness’ in our surroundings, suggesting a perspective of so-named mental disturbances out in the world of everyday life, rather than as a dysfunction solely within an individual. Newbury and Hoskins discuss the challenges of teaching/learning that invites learners to experience the transformational potential of collaborative approaches to change. The importance of reflection is also explicated in the article by Losantos and colleagues as they reflect on their research inspired by social construction. premises. Talavera’s shares how literature enhances her therapy practice, though what she shares can be applicable to any disciplinary practice. Alcocer and colleagues highlight the importance of reflecting on our practices as they pause to explore an often posed question: what do people from different countries think about the meaning of family.

Essay

Kerstin Hopstadius offers an experience in how when we let go of only seeing the expected and familiar we are open to the newness of the unexpected and the unfamiliar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Malena Braun and Sheila share part of a conversation they had on leaving the Latin American Congress on Collaborative-Dialogic Practice in Tucuman, Argentina. Their conversation is a response to Malena’s curiosity: “What is the risk of postmodern-social construction informed collaborative practice becoming a truth and how can this be prevented?” Please join their conversation and send your words to the Journal.

We invite you to step back, pause and reflect on your own practice as you engage with the authors in this issue. We welcome your comments, contributions to our blog, and article submissions. Our authors, readers and editors would love to hear from you.

Acknowledgements

The Journal is collaboratively published by the Houston Galveston Institute, the Taos Institute and the Psychology Department of Our Lady of the Lake University. It relies on volunteers for all aspects of its production. This issue was made possible by the help of volunteers including translators Josep Suguí Dolz, Monica Sesma Vazquez, Carlos Felipe Villar, Andriana Gil Wilkerson, and Cindy Bauserman Wheelock. A special thanks to the Journal editorial and production team—Kris Harmat, Mercy Harper and Nadia Perla–for their assistance in editing, formatting and producing this issue. And, a sincere expression of gratitude for the generous support of Principal Richard De La Cuadra and Xavier Academy.

The Banner

We are grateful to Sara London, a Mexico City artist now living in Florida, for contributing her artwork for the Journal banner. The banner is a fragment of a painting titled in Spanish “Red EnRedando.” The title reflects the richness of language and the complexity of translation. Loosely translated the title refers to “net, netting, networking.” “En Redando” speaks to the process of entangling and “red” means net. Sara describes the painting: “Conversations and relationships provide the threads that create a net that holds the members of the community and allows them to connect, exchange, and venture beyond the familiar and explore new possibilities.”